July 2021 MSOP Meeting Minutes

AFSCME MSOP Labor Management

July 8, 2021

Human Resources Room/Conference

12PM

 

Attendance: Adam Castle, Ryan Cates, Annie Jakacki, Steve Wilking, Alex Flores, Eric Hesse, Jamie Schwartz, Nick Weerts, Tim Lokensgard, Michelle Sexe, Paul Rodriguez, Bonnie Wold, Scott Halverson, Annie Jakacki, Heidi Peura, Tracy Johanssen

 

AFSCME AGENDA ITEMS

Follow Up Items

  1. Inverse Numbers: 19 1st watch staff for 134.17. 33 staff from 2nd watch for 94.58. 19 staff from 3rd watch for 93.75 hours
  2. Overtime Numbers: 1048.24 Hours
  3. LPN:
  4. 1.      Health Services Staffing: Nick-Nikki is not present today. There are a bunch of vacancies. An RN and an LPN position have been offered recently. Not sure if they accepted. One bid out and left. What is the plan for LPN who bid to forensics but was held back? how long will that be? Tracy-she met with carol to find out, but I will have her include that in the follow up email as well. Eric-what is being done to make sure department is better for the employees to retain them? Are there other discussions higher up? Nick-They have been meeting with outside conflict resolution people, but I am unsure how often or the results. Eric-what is being done for retention? We can have recruitment bonuses but what about staff that are there? if they are happy, they might refer someone. We have retention bonus and recruitment. All we have is the incentive MOU but no bonus for sign on. Tracy-They are using that, but we aren’t getting applicants. We have brought it up to mmb. The challenge is being competitive with private hospitals as well. Eric-MMB could quit denying wage inequities. There is something systemic going on. Minimum is now 2. No overnight staffing. If one or both nurses for morning shift call in sick, what happens? Tracy-I will have to talk to Nikki to find out. Nick-If overtime is being offered to fill 3rd but no mandated overtime. Concerns with overtime distribution. It’s great not to mandate but we need to follow the contract. If you are having charge nurse offer overtime, how is that being documented? We need to make this environment better. Tracy-I will reach out to Nikki to talk about these questions. Eric-We keep having these meetings to make it better, but nothing seems to change. Heidi-Nikki should be back next week.
  5. 2.      Lead Leveling Process Update: Eric-Thank you for opening the lead list last week. Will we get a meeting with labor to discuss the new process? Heidi-We continue to meet regularly, and they are under development. Its standard that afscme isn’t involved due to it being management right. Eric-When its developed, will you meet with labor to let us know and we can ask questions before it is implemented? Heidi-We are working through the process and historically we don’t involve labor. Alex-will it be implemented before its implemented? Heidi-lead list will be open several times throughout the year. Bonnie-once we finalize the process, will we go over those so if they have questions, we can take care of those before moving forward. Tracy-we are putting the questions together and move forward with the process. Eric-interviews, you get score and the selecting from there? point system. Heidi-yes. Eric-Will there be a threshold to be considered? Heidi-Generally is a passing score that has not been determined yet. Eric-when the threshold is determined, is it whoever scored the most? Cates-or whoever meets it then placed by seniority? Eric-Contract states with similar qualifications, it must go by seniority. Heidi-we follow the contract for promotions. Bonnie-I think it makes more sense to talk about this afterward. The union is asking that when the process applies, the union has the information about how we will hire into a lead position. Steve-Eric isn’t asking about interview questions but that we can go through it to make sure we are meeting contractual obligations through the entire thing. Eric-The conversation at first was to make sure everything was per contact. We will wait until its complete and ask questions then.
  6. 3.      Green Acres North Staffing: Paul-a meeting is today and more next week to look at staffing for the unit. Nothing today but more in August. We were waiting to see what happened with bonding. Not sure if its favorable but it is what it is.
  7. 4.      MSOP Demobilization: Eric-July 1st most things went to normal. Some things have fallen through the cracks such as sally port numbers. Closure of quarantine but now we have it. Bonnie-Nikki isn’t here but locally, everything for demobilization is done except for masks and the unit. When we get the go ahead to dissolve that, we will bring more clients down. No timeframe on that.
  8. 5.      Time Book Training: Eric-we discussed this last month. Tracy-I need to follow up with Denise Considine. It sounded like she had something. I will update as soon as we are done.
  9. 6.      ATLAS Scheduling App: Tim-I contacted the company and Jamie reposted on announcement page that if you are at home without internet explorer, there is a bypass for it. I don’t know about the phone app yet. But there is a way to get access at home. If there is an update, I will let you know.

 

New AFSCME Items

  1. 1.      COVID Screening/Call in Protocol: Nick-Confusion with staff self-screening? Bonnie-yes, you do. ODs shouldn’t be asking if its covid related. Tim-I will make sure I go to the ODs and let them know. Nick-Staff have been getting “why?” Tim-we had to ask during COVID. Nick-they are asking why. I don’t think that is appropriate. It is the same OD that has historically had issues. Bonnie-Follow up with Tim. Eric-Variant is going around and we don’t want it here. If someone is symptomatic or contracts and doesn’t have sick leave, is there possibility of getting some leave for them. We are keeping health and safety in mind. If they go off the books, I hope there are protections for that. Tracy-That would have to be determined by MMB. I will ask Mel to bring that up. At this time, we haven’t gotten any other direction. Current leaves still exist but covid is not. Eric-if someone is symptomatic…Tracy-it will be the same as sick time. Eric-could they ask for eligibility to keep this place safe. Tracy-we always look at circumstances for any ETL. It is fact finding so if the cause is symptoms of covid, it wouldn’t be an abuse. Bonnie-If they write a report and we find it is in fact covid, we may forgive that. Alex-it’s more likely the staff will come in sick. Eric-there needs to be a process in place for staff to take before the investigation process takes place. Jamie-It’s not even 2 or 3 days, its 2 weeks. I had a baby and was out for I weeks. I don’t have enough time. Tracy-you could still qualify for medical leave.
  2. 2.      Activity Appropriate Dress Code in CPS: Nick-Conversation 5 weeks ago about activity appropriate attire for staff and I haven’t heard anything. Staff have gotten random communication on it but nothing ideal. Michelle-the person was given the option paid to run home. Gary sent an email on June 11. The plan is when he sends out the daily schedule, have shorts here if you must go on an activity. We may be more generous but last year staff were wearing shorts for the entire day. Most of the activities outdoors, shorts will be permitted. Nick-for any activity outside, staff shouldn’t need approval. Michelle-We go by policy. Nick-what is the criteria? Michelle-we said for most of summer June to august, we are going to approve them for outdoor activities. Nick-every day or just looking at the weather. Michelle-we said 70 degrees and hotter. Michelle-Mike will take care of it if Gary is gone. Eric-Ani issue is also that perimeter staff must bring a wardrobe to work but then hear that we want to reduce people bringing in stuff. Jamie-some people live an hour away. Michelle-we are trying to something nice for staff. Nick-I didn’t know about it, so communication failed there. Going forward, the policy can maybe be tweaked a little bit. Paul-we have been changing it a bit this year to accommodate. Michelle-To be fair, we aren’t asking staff to do strenuous activities when it reaches that heat threshold. We have cancelled those activities. Nick-Some staff aren’t happy. Paul-We are trying to do something different from last year. If we hadn’t had 90-degree weather for so long, it maybe wouldn’t have happened. Michelle-I will make sure those emails are sent to everyone going forward.
  3. 3.      HR Response Time: Eric-We have been getting complaints with the HR drop box. Staff send something months ago and don’t hear back. What is the expectation? Tracy-we have staff assigned to those mailboxes and access them as soon as possible. HR is also down staff as well, so we are trying to get to those asap. I don’t have a timeframe. It depends on the request. It is monitored on a daily basis and responding as timely as possible. They get an auto reply, but we don’t respond individually. We are trying to keep is as condensed as possible. Eric-how long should staff re email. Tracy-email back and cc me on it as well. I will deal with getting the emails twice. Some staff immediately email the next day. That is counterproductive. Eric-there are some time sensitive questions. I understand you are short staffed and budgeted as well. People view HR as a resource as well. Nick-Now it’s an automated box. I have had time sensitive things for the union, and I don’t know what to do or who to contact. Tracy-I will take it back to the leadership group. If it sits in someone’s mailbox and they are gone, no one sees it so it’s better to have the drop box. Eric-do you assign someone to it, or do you read it and see it’s not yours? Tracy-There is a process in place for who manages what areas and services of the campus. They are in constant communication managing those mailboxes. Nick-how many HR is there. Tracy-There are 4 of us for MSOP. FMHP has around 6. We are looking at how our support is done in DCT. We have not had anyone for MSOP for some time. We are looking at how to manage it more effectively. Tracy-I encourage people to reach out to me directly. I work with the leave teams as well. Eric-The only direction staff gets is to use the mailbox. Tracy-I will follow up with how the process has changed and post on the announcements page. We are going to begin the interview process as well so we can post those employees when we hire them. Steve-Can you post who the people are that oversee what programs on those emails? Tracy-when I reply, it comes with my signature block. Nick-On the initial form, if you had everyone’s names and contact information, people would at least know who to contact. Annie-At least put the names on the email so staff know who to expect the response from and identify who to contact with certain questions. Tracy-I will bring it up to our HR director. Eric-Since peace time emergency is over, when will HR return to office? Tracy-That is being explored right now. I supervise a lot of areas so I cannot be in every facility. Eric-you have two facilities. Before pandemic, HR was in moose lake. It would be nice to have a part time down here and would alleviate a lot of issues. Tracy-we will look at that and I will bring it to the leadership team.
  4. 4.      Supervisory Responsibilities Being Pushed onto SCL/SCs: Eric-Feedback from peers that it seems like since the pandemic there has been more duties that supervisors have pushed on to us such as mentoring program, behavioral expectations, audits, and job coach program. Why are these duties being put on the group? Michelle-advisory committee has been put on hold and we just started meeting again. Eric-setting up appointments, running around meeting with mentors. Michelle-staff have always done that. They do it by choice. We just started back up 2 weeks ago. Bonnie-It’s also to get more experience when the supervisors are absent. Helps them get qualifications to promote as well. It’s not something that isn’t in their position description. If supervisors are pushing it onto leads and not doing duties, then we need to talk about that. They are there to assist the supervisor leading the unit when they aren’t there. Eric-biweekly meetings, vocational, if we are stuck doing this with minimal staffing. Will there be times they cannot provide unit presence because of these duties. If they are going to do this stuff, there needed to be leniency about unit presence. If we are doing BER waivers, job coach, audits, we cannot be on the unit. Bonnie-I don’t agree but I think we can have move conversations. When they are doing these things, they are on the unit. We can address these concerns. Maybe there are folks not liking it. Tim-If you feel you need another staff, let the OD know. Sometimes there are staff around to assist you. Let the ODs know you might need an extra. Or the unit director. Bonnie-Our quarterly report is due. The information is amazing that staff and leads are doing. BER are decreasing. I think this has to do with staff interacting with clients. It is being noticed.
  5. 5.      Calling People on Advanced OT list before inverse: Eric-Supervisors are doing less so we can use the opportunity to call on the list. This would increase morale. Especially on overnights where there is a small pool. Majority of hours are form 1st watch. It would be a nice gesture. OD office gets busy, but it would be nice. Tim-there is no process in place. My concern is that they call someone that isn’t most senior. There are no contractual rules because it isn’t advanced. Eric-Isn’t the ruling from HR that you can do what you want. Tim-its shift change, the lobby is full, and he can’t call advanced. Will we get a grievance then? Eric-if you go through the process per contract and then call the advanced list…Tim-So I can call anyone on the list? Cates-you should do it by seniority. Tim-I’m just saying. I know you have an inverse page as well. Eric-It seems like there is a process you could offer it out. Cates-All we are asking is that you try to call out if possible. Steve-That is our responsibility to inform our coworkers that this is a new process that we are trying out and it is not perfect. We can have managements back and let staff know that this is what we agreed on, to try this out and it won’t be perfect.

Management Agenda Items

  1. 1.      Referral Incentives: Tim-Just wanted to let staff know that. Tracy-the others are determined by the executive leadership team. Nancy Johnson’s level. I can reach out to her.
  2. 2.      Notice of Shift Times Changing: Bonnie-This is our notice we took your feedback and you will be getting letters in august to inform you of going back to straight 8s. HR will send them out. Michelle-CPS staff to not leave until straight up. If this is happening, we will deal with it individually.
  3. 3.      Roll Call Changes: Bonnie-Roll calls will also stay as they have been. Make sure to have a good shift change.
  4. 4.      Quarantine/Isolation Unit Staff: Bonnie-if we open it up again. We will not do the half hour earlier. We will manage as we did pre covid with influenza. Eric-Health and safety of the staff wouldn’t be interacting in the hallway and lobby. It gave us a little hazard pay for being volunteering to work in hazardous work environment. It is your right, but I ask you to reconsider.
  5. 5.      Sallyport Numbers: Tim-we are discussing those moving forward. Won’t be ten and won’t be three. Tim-Control center had concerns of having 6 staff. Eric-I would say more than that especially when some ODs don’t come out to the lobby until later. 6 would be good. Tim-We will start and go from there. We’ll see how things go. Tim-Everyone has masks. Control Center needs to make sure the right people are in and out.
  6. 6.      Thank You/Contributions with Perimeter Moves: Bonnie-We posted something on the home page about our appreciation for staff helping with this. It was a lot of work for everyone. It went seamlessly and was done quickly. Paul-I heard it on the radio, and it sounded very efficient.
  7. 7.      Scott-There will be some assigned duties to the day staff SCs at Halverson. They will be fielding phone calls from clients on PD. This is reintegration related. I will be doing additional training with that. PDs will not be affected. Additional duties are included in the position description. I will talk to HR if they think the pd needs to be updates.  Adding a manual and training on site for steps to take when they field those calls. We are reshuffling and having the staff more involved in the program. We had agents and me fielding phone calls. Especially overnight staff that don’t have much to do. Scott-A provisionally discharged client could call the south house phone and share a message with the agent, and they could call for resources. They call me and I delegate requests. These are clients throughout the state. Clients at south house always have the resource. Eric-People think we are taking on more duties. The feeling is they don’t want to do it, so we have to. Scott-Overnight staff at the south house don’t have many other duties. We looked at that and this won’t take a lot of time other than answering the phone. Steve-how many calls would they field on a shift on average? Scott-right now we don’t get many. 6 to 10 a night possibly. Michelle-there was a project dedicated to this and it was very low. Nick-A client might call and say “I am sick and can’t go to work? Scott-yes, it could even be a client needing some support and someone to talk to. They would then call me the next day. The call could go to the agent but may not answer their phones. Sometimes we need clients to hear that you don’t have time. This is something that can wait and talk to your agent tomorrow.

 

Adjourned at 1245pm